An Attempt at Love (Potions)
by DemiBoyDoesStuff
Summary: Thomas Jefferson is board making the same potions every day. He wants to make something new, something impossible. So he tries his hand at a real love potion. In hindsight, perhaps Hamilton was not the person he should have tested it on. Now he has Alexander clinging to him for dear life and Headmaster Washington considering expelling him. Hogwarts AU.
1. Chapter 1

Thomas has always believed that is was his potion making that would put him in history of magic text books. He's far above his grade level and he had no problems reproducing even the hardest of potions, he can generally even improve on the already existing recipes. This is, in fact, his problem. He was board. He comes into class everyday already perfectly aware of what they are doing and how to do it. He feels like Merlin in a year one transmutation class. He wants to make new potions, better potions! But here he is again in his N.E.W.T potions class identifying forbidden potions, not even making them, just looking at them.

Thomas taps his quill impatiently as professor Adams rambles on about the dangers of amortentia, how it doesn't produce real love, how it was the reason for the wizarding wars (thank god Hamilton isn't in this class, he would start a rant about how the treatment of muggles and pureblood supremacy was the real cause of the war). None of this is interesting to Thomas, he knows it already, he wanted to know more.

"Could amortentia be improved?" he asks, Adams sputters to a stop.

"I don't see what you mean, amortentia is the strongest love potion we have, and frankly it's stronger than we need." Adams answers.

"But love is just a bunch of chemicals in the brain, right? So, I don't see why we can't just make a potion that makes real love." Thomas knows from the look on Adams face that he asked the wrong question.

"Love potions are very dangerous, there is no reason for you to try to make anything stronger."

"And he totally shot me down Jemmy!" Thomas complains, "He's just so frustrating, like, when he was our age he was selling shitty love potions and knock off Weasley's jokes and homemade butterbeer and firewhisky but when I suggest doing something that would actually further the study of potions he's all like 'noo, it's too dangerous'" he pitches up his voice to mock Adams, "It's hypocritical bullshit."

James hums softly and glances up from his homework "Thomas, what would you even do with an improved love potion?"

"I don't know, prove a point? Find a cure? Make sure that we know an antidote before someone else tries to make one and uses it to destroy the world? Are you really taking _Adam's_ side in this?"

"It was just a question Thomas." James says, going back to his homework. Thomas huffs softly and flopped back in his seat.

"Maybe I'll make one right now." he says

"a love potion?" James asks

"yeah, one that's even better than amortentia." James just blinks at him, then,

"if you get caught, I didn't know anything about this." he says. Thomas scoffs, he isn't going to get caught.

In hindsight, Alexander Hamilton might not have been the best person to test his love potion out on.

It was much easier to make a love potion than Thomas had thought it would be, a few trips to the restricted section of the library, a few potion ingredients ordered by owl, a few stolen from Adams, and a long month sneaking into Myrtle's bathroom to brew it, and voila, a love potion. Not the best he could do, but a start, better than amortentia he's sure.

His plain had been simple, (and also likely affected by the fact that Hamilton had started a prank war a week prior). He would spike Hamilton's morning coffee and Hamilton would fall head over heels for one of his friends, he would be too distracted by his crush to continue the war, Thomas would be able to keep an eye on the effects of the potion, and Hamilton would be super embarrassed when the potion wore off, hopefully enough so to change schools and leave Thomas alone. Unfortunately, things never go as planned for Thomas.

So here he is, in the infirmary, with headmaster Washington glaring down at him while Hamilton chants 'I hate you, I hate you I hate you' under his breath while contradictorily clinging to Thomas for dear life.

"What on earth made you think that it would be ok for you to even brew a new kind of love potion? Let alone test it on another student?" Thomas just shrugs,

"I was just trying to discover something, sir." He agrees that testing his potion on an unwilling student was not the best move, especially with Hamilton practically crushing him.

"Discover something? Son, you just tested an experimental forbidden potion on an unaware student! This kind of behavior could not only get you kicked out of the school, but also sent to Azkaban. Is that what you want Thomas? To get sent to Azkaban because of a poor decision in 6th year?" Thomas is only just now realizing how badly he fucked up. This isn't just about Hamilton being practically attached to him for the next month or so while they wait for this to wear off, this is about his whole future, his legacy, maybe even his entire family's legacy. He might have just ruined everything in his life in one fell swoop.

He is brought out of his spiral of anxiety by a high-pitched whine and Hamilton apparently attempting to completely merge his body with Thomas's, considering how he's trying to bury his face in Thomas's chest. Washington stops his lecture for a moment to take stock of Hamilton's health.

And that's the worst part isn't it. His potion didn't even work right. Hamilton is no more in love with him than before he was drugged, he just has a terrible drive to touch him. So here they are, with Hamilton trying as hard as he can to get as much contact with Thomas a possible and with Thomas holding his arms over his head to try to avoid as much contact as possible. Now he's producing a concerning whining sound that honestly makes Thomas's ears hurt.

"Alex?" Washington calls softly "I know that this is hard for you, would you rather stay out here with Mrs. Washington while I talk to Jefferson in her office?" So, Thomas has been downgrades to last name basis, that hurt. But on the bright side Hamilton nodded, so Thomas could at least get some time without Hamilton holding him like a child holds a teddy bear. Hamilton actually looks pained as he pulls away from Thomas, but Thomas is sure from Washington's face that he's the one who's really going to suffer here.

Washington has him sit the moment they're in the office, but stays standing himself. Thomas hates when people do this, having to look up at people makes him feel like a child. He supposes that's the point but it's a cheap tactic.

Neither of them say anything for a moment, making Thomas more jittery than when Washington was just yelling at him. He's about to say something in his own defense but Washington takes a deep breath and sighs.

"You have a lot of potential, Jefferson," he pauses, "That's what makes this situation so important. If you were just an average student who stole some love potion for a prank, or even because you were hung up on some unrequited love, this wouldn't be so bad, but Jefferson, you are not an average student. If you can't stop to think about the consequences of your actions then you could be dangerous to allow to use magic"

"Sir, please, this was a lapse in judgment, I realize that now." Really does, but Washington can't be serious, they can't kick him out of Hogwarts, he's from one of the most prestigious pureblood families in America, they moved to the UK just to send him to Hogwarts, they can't do that to his family. More importantly, he doesn't even know how to survive without magic, he can barely make sense of the ridiculous clothing the muggle borns wear on the weekends, let alone survive on his own in the muggle world.

"If this is what you call a lapse in judgment-" Washington is unable to finish his sentence as the office door is flung open and Thomas is bowled into with enough force to make his chair rock back and nearly fall. And there's Hamilton curling himself up in Thomas's lap, clinging to Thomas's robes while Thomas attempts to avoid touching him, or at least minimize the amount of touching he has to do.

"I'm sorry, sir," he says looking at Washington, "It just really hurt being away from Thomas."

"It's alright, son, you can't help it." Washington says kindly, Hamilton interestingly enough, doesn't snap at Washington about being called son, he just buries his face in Thomas's chest again. All the kindness disappears from his features when he looks up at Thomas,

"There's not much we can do in terms of discipline right now, seeing as Alexander appently needs to maintain contact with you. For now, we'll need your notes on how you made this potion to attempt to make an antidote, and you'll need to accompany him wherever he goes, make sure he's comfortable and keep an eye out for anything that could be an effect of your potion." there is nothing Thomas wants less then to spend an indefinite amount of time within an arm's length of Hamilton, and judging by the disapproving sound Hamilton makes, he feels the same way.

"What if you can't find an antidote?" Hamilton asks, turning away from Thomas

"It's supposed to wear off." Thomas supplies

"Oh ya, well I really trust your potion making skills right now, it's not like your inability to know the effects of your potion is what got us here in the first place." Hamilton shoots back,

"That's not true." Thomas snaps

"Be quiet both of you. We'll find an antidote Alex. And Thomas, we'll be keeping a close eye on your behaver while we try to clean up this mess, what you do could make a big difference in how this turns out for you. I want to believe that this was really just a lapse in judgment that happened because you're young, and dreaming of glory, but you need to convince me though actions." He gives Thomas a long calculating look and sighs,

"You're dismissed." He says, leaving them, presumably to talk to his wife about Hamilton storming into the office or go find Adams.

"So," Thomas says softly. Alexander is still curled up in his lap and he thinks the weight is starting to cut off circulation to his feet, but Alexander doesn't seem like he's planning on moving any time soon and Thomas doesn't want to do anything that might piss Hamilton off when he might be the key to avoiding expulsion. Hamilton says nothing.

"Don't you have work to do?" He asks, Hamilton huffs softly and returns his face to its previous position against Thomas's chest. This is unusual. Hamilton is normally on top of every assignment given out, and the reminder of work to be done would get him moving faster than anything else, but here he is ignoring the prospect of work to cuddle with Thomas. He tries something else, but he doubts it's going to work.

"I think your friends are still waiting outside, they're probably worried." He offers, Hamilton lets out a long suffering grown and starts to uncurl himself.

"You're explaining how this is all your fault," He says as he stands and grabs Thomas's hand.

The group gathered outside is just as Thomas expected, the Schyler sisters (a Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor respectively), John Laurens (Hufflepuff, strange considering his family's long line of Slytherin on either side), Hercules Mulligan (Hufflepuff unsurprisingly for a muggle born), and Lafayette (Gryffindor, and a transfer from Beauxbatons). They all crowd around the two the moment they're out of the infirmary, shouting things like 'oh thank merlin,' and 'you're ok', and 'we were worried' and 'why are you holding jeffeshit's hand?' and 'be nice John'.

That last one was from Laf, who was probably the only mutual friend Thomas had with Hamilton. Thomas jumps in quickly to explain

"I was trying to make a better love potion, and I figured I could test it out on Hamilton and he would fall for one of you guys and it would be a prank but it backfired so now I'm stuck with Hamilton until Adams can make an antidote or it wears off" He glances over at Hamilton to see if that explanation is adequate, but he doesn't seem to be paying attention.

He has a big sweet smile on his face and a look of absolute adoration as he surveys his friends. Honestly this was more the reaction he expected from someone who had taken a love potion.

"Are you alright?" John asks,

"Yeah," Hamilton practically sings, "'m just thinking, you guys are the best friends ever. Like, you all came to the infirmary and waited here, even though I know that you have other stuff to do." He leans back against Thomas and closes his eyes, it's like a switch has been flipped, he's emotional, and affectionate, and kina acting like an idiot.

"Hey, John, you know, you're just the best, you always just know what's right ya'know and then you fight for it, it's just so amazing, and Eliza you're so sweet, and you love your family so much and you consider me family even though I don't deserve it, and Angelica, you're so smart! Like the whole world is gonna listen to you some day, I know it, you're just too amazing for them not to, and Peggy- "

"Are you ok?" John interrupts, blushing fiercely "Is this the potion?"

"Shush, John he was about to do me," Peggy hisses "Go on."

"Oh Peggy, you don't even need me to tell you you're amazing, you already know it, you're so bold and you just don't give a shit about what anybody thinks, I wish I had the courage to do shit like wear sundresses and pink leggings to class, and you're such a great bludger really I don't know where your team would be without you." Hamilton attempts to shift his weight but ends up nearly toppling over, the only thing saving him from hitting the floor is Thomas and John catching him,

"Wow," Mulligan says, "It's like he's drunk, but past his angry drunk phase and into his affectionate sentimental drunk phase." Thomas would have made a comment on the underage drinking (even if it was hypocritical) but he reminded himself to stay in line, he was going to have to deal with these people for a while. Hamilton meanwhile has been distracted by someone else,

"Hey, James, I didn't see you over there in the corner." Thomas picks Hamilton up bridal style and notes that James is indeed standing off to the side, watching them apparently, he's been waiting for Thomas.

"Hello, Hamilton." He says awkwardly, apparently not eager to be at the receiving end of one Hamilton's complent bombs.

"Heeey," Hamilton says again, playing with Thomas's Slytherin patch "do you remember when you used to call me Alex? I do, I miss that ya'know, like, we were friends and I could bounce my ideas off you, and you were like, always super cool and stuff, and like we didn't always agree but you made good arguments. I miss that. We should do that again sometime, like get butterbeer and talk, even if we don't talk about anything important, I just miss talking to you."

"That's very nice, I'll see what I can do." James says in his 'I really don't want to do that but I'm trying to be nice' voice

"I should take him back in so Mrs. Washington can look at him." Thomas says nodding towards the infirmary door.

"Oh, but he hasn't complimented me yet." Laf complains. Thomas elects to ignore that and stalks back into the infirmary, Laurens right on his heels.

"Mrs. Washington? You guys wanted me to tell you if more symptoms start to show up, right? Well he was fine until he saw his friends, then he started acting all affectionate and he just fell over, like he's drunk."

"Hey, hey Thomas," Hamilton tries and fails to whisper, Thomas looks down at him and finds that that absolutely adoring look is now focused on him "Hey, have I told you that you're just fucking beautiful. Just, like, how am I supposed to prove how wrong you are when I have to look at that stupid pretty face while I do it?" John laughs loudly,

"Wow, even a love potion can't get Alex to accutaly give you a compliment!" he mocks

"Has he been affectionate with everyone or just you?" Mrs. Washington asks, swatting John as she walks by on her way to examine Alex,

"Everyone," Thomas answers as Hamilton lazily shifts his attention to her.

"Hey, Mrs. W" he says "You know I don't think I tell you this enough, but you're just so amazing, you've done so much for me and I honestly am so grateful for everything, you have no idea. Like, you guys didn't need to let me into Hogwarts and get me all my supplies and let me stay with you after the hurricane. It's just, I just love you so much, and Mr. Washington too, I don't say it enough but really I love you." He says as she takes his face and examines his eyes, her breath seems to catch for a moment when he tells her he loves her, but she recovers so quickly Thomas thinks he might have imagined it.

"Thank you, Alex, we love you too." She says, then she looks at Jefferson "do you see the pink-purple haze over his eyes?" He would have called it magenta but yes he sees it, she releases Hamilton and takes a step back "That wasn't there before, it might be related. If this is going to keep getting progressively worse we might need to think up a new plan."

"So, what we just keep Alex here while he moons over everyone he sees?" John asks. Meanwhile Thomas notes that the magenta is starting to fade from Hamilton's eyes and his adoring expression is starting to turn to confusion,

"Hey, I think he's snapping out of it." He calls. John and Mrs. Washington are quick to gather closer to get a look for themselves as Hamilton blinks rapidly and shakes his head like he's trying to clear his head. Then.

"What the hell Jefferson?" he shouts


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell Jefferson?" Alex snaps, one second he's heading into the hall to meet his friends, the next he's back in the infirmary with Jefferson carrying him and John and Mrs. W standing over him.

"Language" Mrs. W warns while Alex squirms in Jefferson's arms, hoping he gets the hint and puts him down without him having to go through the embarrassment of actually asking.

"Sorry ma'am" he says.

Jefferson, thankfully, takes a hint and puts him down, and John, (best friend in the world really) immediately offers support when he almost falls over. The world is spinning and his head hurts a little and his chest hurts a bit but the knows it's going to keep getting worse if he doesn't touch Jefferson again soon and he's got a gap in his memory that's highly concerning.

"What happened?" he asks

"Well, Jefferson gave you a love potion" John starts

"No, after that, when we got into the hall" the last thing he needs right now is a recap of how he dramatically flung himself at Jefferson after taking a sip of his coffee, the first burst of magic had been so powerful that he couldn't think of anything other than how much he just needed Jefferson. It's probably something he's going to be embarrassed about for the rest of his life.

"Oh, right, you saw us and went all lovey dovey on us. You were just going on about how great we all were. You even told Madison that you missed hanging out with him, and Jefferson that he was gorgeous, don't worry though, you also told him his ideas are stupid in, like, the same sentence." Alex has a feeling he's never going to recover from this embarrassment. At least the look on Jefferson's face suggests that he feels the same.

"It's likely that it will happen again, maybe we should take you out of classes." Mrs. W offers, but there's no way Alexander is going to allow that, it's bad enough that he has to be around Jefferson all the time right now, even worse that some gross, cursed part of him _wants_ to be around Jefferson all the time, and he's already lost his pride and dignity, all he's got left is his standing at the top of his class, and he's not letting that go because of something Jefferson did.

"I'll be fine," he says waving his hand dismissively, "I've worked through worse." Although he can't quite remember when. He doesn't appreciate the pitying looks he receives from her and John. Jefferson, on the other hand, won't look at him at all. It makes his chest hurt even more, a sharp stabbing pain rather than the dull ache he already has from refusing to touch him. He didn't mention it. He grabs Jefferson's hand a little harsher than what was probably necessary, the ache in his chest lessening a bit. He knows that he's only stalling, it's going to come back worse if he didn't get more contact than hand holding, but he can manage for now. He refuses to acknowledge how much he's craving contact regardless of the pain.

"We should go get those notes to Washington" he says, he wants nothing more than to get away from John and Mrs. W and their pity. Besides, the sooner Adams can get working on the antidote the sooner it can get done. (Hopefully, although Alexander has never put too much stock into Adams's abilities as either a teacher or a potion maker).

John and Mrs. W can barely get out goodbyes before Alexander has dragged Jefferson out of the clinic. He doesn't stop to talk to his friends still waiting outside for him, only giving them the same quick excuse as he passes.

Jefferson takes far longer than Alexander would like to adjust to his quick pace, his southern sensibilities apparently preventing him from walking any quicker than a casual stroll. If Alexander has to spend the whole mouth wasting time either dragging Jefferson all over Hogwarts or strolling along like he was on a walk in the park, he's going to murder Jefferson.

By the time they get to professor Adams's office its's clear he and Washington have been waiting for a while, and have moved on from talking about the situation to awkwardly trying to make small talk. Logically, Alexander knows that the few minutes wasted by Jefferson's pace made little difference but at this point Jefferson seems like a good person to blame all his problems on.

"Ah, Jefferson, it seems as though your refusal to listen to me has gotten you into trouble." Adams points out, Jefferson says nothing, just scowls at the ground and grips Alex's hand a little tighter.

"Well, let's see those notes of yours" Adams requests,

"I was just going to take you to my brewing station, I, uh, set up in the first-floor girls room. I have some left-over potion so…" Jefferson says, Washington lets out a soft sigh,

"We should really just close that room off, students only ever seem to use it for illegal activities" he says, Alexander doesn't agree, about the closing it thing, not the illegal activities part, he just has too many good memories of getting shitfaced in that bathroom to support its closing. Jefferson just shrugs.

"Well, no time to waste," Alex says, tugging Jefferson's hand.

"Of course," Washington says, "lead the way, Jefferson"

The walk to the bathroom seems to take even more time than the walk from the infirmary. The length of the walk is mostly caused by Alexander's reluctance to drag Jefferson along with Washington and Adams right behind him and Jefferson's insistence on moving slower than ever, whether it was out of spite or guilt Alexander can't tell, but he's leaning towards the former. Regardless, Alex's chest is starting to ache pretty painfully by the time they get to the bathroom.

The first-floor bathroom smells distinctively of firewhisky, weed, and peppermint. It always smells like firewhisky and weed, so the peppermint must be the potion. Alexander has always hated the smell of peppermint.

Jefferson gestures to the handicapped stall with his free hand, that being the one that Alex isn't practically crushing at this point.

"Everything is in there, the notes are hidden in the trash, the brewing station is under the wet floor sign, and the remining potion is hidden behind the toilet, I always make enough for three trails." His voice is flat and emotionless, as it's been since Alex's episode in the hall.

Washington is able to retrieve everything quickly and easily. The notes are a thick stack of parchment, the brewing station looks pretty complex, and the potion is neatly separated into two small stoppered glass bottles, the potion itself is a bright shimmering magenta, Alexander decides he hates everything about it.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Washington says to Jefferson as he hands the materials over to Adams.

"Sure, can we go before-" Jefferson is cut off by a feminine voice

"Hey, Tommy," says Myrtle, her head poking over the top of a stall door. Alex has to contain his urge to groan when he hears her. If there is any reason that the bathroom should be closed, it's to keep Myrtle from being pervy around boys. He has heard to many stories from Laf and Hercules about her spying on them mid make out for him to be comfterable being in the same room as her.

"Did your prank backfire?" she asks, cocking her head and grinning "or was this the plain from the beginning?" it seems that Alex has finally found something that he and Thomas both agree on, as they both recoil from her suggestion.

"That's ridiculous," Jefferson says, annoyed, this is the first sign of actual emotion that he's given since the episode, "why would I want Hamilton to fall in love with me? I hate him"

"Sure you do," she says mockingly, resting her chin on her hand "that doesn't at all sound like something someone trying to cover up their unrequited love would say."

"It really doesn't" Jefferson says, Washington rubs his eyes then raises his hands,

"That's enough, everyone, no one cares about Jefferson's motivations, he made a mistake and we're fixing it" he says with his usual air of authority. Jefferson takes up glaring at the ground again and Myrtle disappears behind the stall door.

"Well," Adams says, "I'm going to get to work on the potion, in the meantime, Jefferson, Hamilton, I would suggest that you try to retain contact, so I suppose Jefferson will have to move into the Ravenclaw tower, and attend classes with Hamilton"

"No! No way! He can't come to class with me!" Alex snaps in outrage at the same time Jefferson snatches his hand away and shouts "you can't be serious, I'm not going to share a room with him.". Unfortunately, this display only goes to show how necessary contact is, as the second Jefferson pulls his hand away Alex's stomach lurches, the world spins, and the pressure in his chest stops his breath. The ground under his feet pitches violently and he very nearly falls on his face before someone grabs him. Someone is yelling but everything is to muffled for Alex to make out the words.

Then it all stops, he can breathe again, with the pressure in his chest back to just being painful rather than world ending. The ground has stabilized, and his stomach has settled, the world comes back into focus and he is able to assess the situation, the situation being that Washington has an arm around his waist and chest to keep him up, Thomas has the tips of his fingers pressed against Alex's shoulder, like he's to disgusting to handle with is whole hand, and Adams is watching all of this with a vaguely horrified expression.

"-ander, son can you hear me" Washington is asking, Alex blinks and shakes his head to clear it,

"Ya, I'm good" he lies as he gets his feet under him, in truth, he feels exhausted, like he just ran a mile. Washington seems relucet to let him go.

"Jefferson, never do that again. Alexander, just… just try to get along with Jefferson, ok?"

"Sure," Alex says grabbing Jefferson's hand and shrugging Washington off, "I'll take this as an opportunity to make friends with the guy who gave me magic roofies" he says, he glances at Jefferson who is whispering the word 'roofies' to himself like he's never heard it before, it's not cute, but he can't help but think it is.

He takes a moment to rub his eyes with his free hand. He still feels a bit fuzzy and the pain in his chest is worse than before Jefferson pulled his hand away but he's having a hard time actually blaming him. He hates that it's so hard to dredge up anger at Jefferson with this stupid potion in his system, he hates that all he wants to do right now is cuddle up with him and fall asleep, he hates that he doesn't really hate either of those things because really, he's just thinking about how great it would be to hate them. He hates not having any control over his emotions. He hates Jefferson, except he doesn't because right now he's not able.

"That's not-" Washington cuts himself off and sighs, "why don't you just help Jefferson collect his things" Alex scoffs, he will not help Jefferson collect his things, he will stand in the corner and be antagonizing.

Slytherin dorms are terrible. They are cold and damp and in the freaking dungeon and why anyone would want to live in them is beyond Alex, but here he is in the 6th year Slytherin dorm watching as Madison helps Jefferson pack his suitcase. How many times had he wished he could see this, just under the circumstances of expulsion? Now he can't even really enjoy the fact that Jefferson is probably going to be expelled, it just makes dread sit in the pit of his stomach. At least Jefferson is packing some good books, maybe he can steal some.

Maybe he can convince Jefferson to read them aloud, so he can hear his beautiful voice. No, stop that! That's the potion talking, Jefferson's voice is not beautiful, it's stupid and condescending.

"What's wrong with you?" Alex jerks out of his thoughts to find Jefferson and Madison staring at him.

"Nothing, what's wrong with you?" he snaps back, he immediately feels bad, which is stupid, because he has done nothing wrong here.

"Fine, next time you've been staring at a wall for five minutes I won't say anything." Jefferson says, Alex pretends that doesn't hurt.

"Is that it?" Madison asks looking down at the full suitcase,

"Yeah, that's it" Jefferson says

"Well, I'll see you later then" Madison says with a sad smile

"You think you can let go for a minute, so I can hug my friend?" Jefferson asks, Alex could, he's handled a few minutes without Jefferson before, as long as he steels himself for it, but he really doesn't want to, partially because of the increasingly painful ache, partially because for some reason he just doesn't like the idea of Jefferson hugging anyone else. He shakes his head.

"It's fine, Thomas" Madison says, zipping up the suitcase and picking it up, "I'll walk you out"

Eliza is always saying that he shouldn't judge people by their houses, but he can't help but hate every Slytherin on the planet when he has to feel their judgmental stares. Except Thomas of cor- no, no, especially Jefferson. The relief that he feels stepping out of the portrait is amazing, the disappointment he feels when Madison follows them into the stairwell is less so. Madison pauses to put down the suit case then hugs Jefferson from the side, Jefferson holds him close with his free arm and closes his eyes. Some intensely unpleasant feeling churns in Alexander's gut.

"I'll write you, no matter where you end up" Madison says, pulling away

"Thanks" Jefferson replies softly, they exchange a small smile before Jefferson picks up his bag.


End file.
